Vitals Announces Patients Choice and Compassionate Doctor Awards

LYNDHURST, NJ – FEBRUARY 27, 2014 – It’s awards season at Vitals! For the sixth consecutive year, Vitals is announcing the nation’s favorite doctors based on patient reviews and ratings.

Vitals Patients Choiceand Vitals Compassionate Doctor awards recognize top doctors and those that provide exemplary care, respectively. The awards are determined based on the reviews and ratings collected in the calendar year from millions of patients and are awarded to less than 5 percent of all doctors nationwide.

California had the most Vitals Patients Choice award winners this year with 5,072 doctors being recognized. Wyoming had the least number with only 23 doctors receiving the distinction in the state.

States With Most Award Winners

States With Least Award Winners

State

# of Winners

State

# of Winners

CA

5,072

WY

23

NY

3,771

VT

28

FL

3,643

ND

38

TX

3,232

MT

43

NJ

1,783

SD

46

Primary care doctors far and away received the most Vitals Patients Choice Awards. Family medicine and internal medicine physicians topped the list of award winners, followed closely by OB/Gyns. Pediatricians ranked 4th, followed by orthopaedic surgeons to round out the top 5. Obscure medical studies like Cytopathology and Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine were the least represented specialties among award winners.

Specialists with Most Award Winners

Specialists with Least Award Winners

Specialty

# of Winners

Specialty

# of Winners

Family Medicine

4,292

MOHS – Micrographic Surgery

2

Internal Medicine

3,965

Medical Genetics

2

OB/Gyn

3,470

Forensic Psychiatry

2

Pediatrics

2,088

Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine

1

Orthopaedic Surgery

2,078

Cytopathology

1

VitalsPatients Choice and Vitals Compassionate Doctor award winners can be found on the Vitals website through the search filters and award icons can be seen on doctor profiles.

“As the health care system gets more complex, and more choices for care are available, it’s important to provide consumers access to information that helps them easily identify quality providers,” said Mitch Rothschild, CEO of Vitals. “Vitals is proud to acknowledge the doctors that make an impact in their community based on the opinions of those who know them best – their patients.”

Vitals Patients Choice is awarded to doctors that maintain an average rating of 3.5 or higher out of its 4-star rating system. Vitals Compassionate Doctor recognizes doctors who’ve been rated a 3.5 or higher for their “bedside manner.” All winning doctors must receive at least four reviews in a calendar year and have a medical license in good standing with no sanctions.

About Vitals

Vitals believes that technology makes better health possible. We are a leader in providing online tools and actionable data that enable healthcare consumers to make more informed decisions about the cost and quality of their medical care. Through health plans, hospitals and our leading consumer websites, Vitals helps more than 150 million people each year access information for better, more affordable care.